Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi (Dec 2023)
An Evaluation on the Cinematographic Presentation of Historical and Spiritual Characters
Abstract
While historical and spiritual characters have been present in Turkish cinema history since the 1950s, recent developments in filming technologies, increased interest in television, and the rise in popularity of TV series have contributed these characters to also appear on television screens. They have gained an unprecedented audience and follower potential. Television series that depict the life stories of religious figures have achieved great success with modern possibilities, and visualizing the spiritual teachings of these personalities and conveying them to people through series has become exceptionally important. As a result, multiple religious characters have been featured in television series, and these characters, previously only read about, have now come to life on screen. This study focuses on the presentation of historical/religious characters on screen, with specific reference to Imam Ghazali, Tapduk Emre, and Mahperi Hunat Hatun, who hold great importance in Turkish-Islamic history, as exemplars. The universe of the study consists of religious/Sufi characters on television, while its sample comprises the listed names. The main objective of the study is to research how these figures are depicted on screen. Through narrative analysis, it is concluded that the examined characters are mostly successfully portrayed on screen, although at times, there may be discrepancies between the depiction and the historical reality.
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